Dodgers to start Snell in Game 1 vs. Jays, Yamamoto gets Game 2
The Los Angeles Dodgers set their starting rotation for the first two games of the World Series.
Los Angeles will start left-hander Blake Snell in Game 1 against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday at Rogers Centre, manager Dave Roberts announced, according to Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times. All-Star righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto will follow Snell in Game 2.
The Dodgers also trusted Snell and Yamamoto for Games 1 and 2 of the NLCS on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers. Snell dominated with eight innings of one-hit ball in the NLCS opener before Yamamoto recorded a complete-game three-hitter.
Snell, 32, is no stranger to the Blue Jays, having spent the first five years of his career with the AL East rival Tampa Bay Rays. The two-time Cy Young Award winner had a dominant playoff start against Toronto in the 2020 wild-card series.
A shoulder issue limited Snell to 11 regular-season starts in 2025 after joining the Dodgers on a five-year, $182-million deal last winter. But he's been exactly what they paid for in October, posting a 0.86 ERA and 0.52 WHIP with 28 strikeouts and just five walks over his three postseason starts. Snell enters the World Series sporting a lifetime 2.58 ERA with 89 strikeouts across 69 2/3 playoff innings.
Yamamoto's been just as dominant this postseason, sporting a 1.83 ERA and 0.86 WHIP with 18 strikeouts, four walks, and only two homers allowed. The 27-year-old has given up two or fewer earned runs in five of his seven career playoff starts.
Game 2 will be Yamamoto's first career start against the Blue Jays.
The Dodgers haven't firmed up the remainder of their World Series rotation, although Roberts suggested the team will "probably" use the same starters in Games 3 and 4 as it did in the NLCS, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. That would line up Tyler Glasnow to start Game 3 at Dodger Stadium, with Shohei Ohtani following in Game 4.
The Blue Jays have yet to name their starters for the opening two contests of the World Series. Kevin Gausman and Trey Yesavage, respectively, started Games 1 and 2 in both the ALDS and ALCS. However, Gausman threw 19 pitches in relief during Toronto's Game 7 win over Seattle on Monday.